Surprises amid 49ers’ success

After Andy Lee was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week last month, the 49ers‘ punter was asked what he received from the NFL, beyond recognition.

The answer: zip.

In the same vein, The Chronicle presents our 49ers midseason awards. The winners will receive squat, but they could hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February if they can continue their first-half performance.

At the regular season’s halfway point, the 49ers are 6-2, have a 1 1/2-game lead in the NFC West and are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Here are some of the players who’ve helped make it happen:

Offensive MVP

QB Alex Smith: There is a tendency, born from years of practice, to focus on Smith’s shortcomings (he threw three interceptions against the Giants!). However, the much-maligned quarterback has been far more than a role player in San Francisco’s success. His numbers in the 49ers’ six wins: a 70.8 completion percentage (102 of 144), 12 touchdowns, one interception and a 122.3 rating. True, he put up a stinker in the 26-3 loss to the Giants, he’s occasionally failed to spot open receivers, and that interception against Seattle was ghastly. Guess what? The same could be said of any NFL quarterback – two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning has a 1-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his past three games. Smith leads the NFL in completion percentage and ranks fourth in rating and yards per attempt. He’s not perfect, and he’s not Peyton Manning, but he just might be pretty good.

Defensive MVP

Safety Dashon Goldson: A compelling case could be made for several players from perhaps the NFL’s best defense, but Goldson is the biggest reason that the unit’s primary weakness in 2011 is now a strength. The Vernon Post erased this ugliness, but the 49ers allowed what appeared to be game-winning touchdown passes of 44 and 66 yards in the final five minutes of last season’s playoff win against the Saints. It was a continuation of a trend: San Francisco allowed 12 pass plays of at least 40 yards last year, ranking 25th in the league. Goldson’s play this season has shored up the leaky back end. Flashing a blend of range and physicality, the six-year veteran shares the team lead with two interceptions, ranks second with six passes defended and has delivered a series of sternum-rattling hits, most memorably on Arizona’s Early Doucet. Pass plays of at least 40 yards the 49ers have surrendered this season: two.

Special teams MVP

Punter Andy Lee: The 49ers’ punt-coverage unit isn’t as strong without Blake Costanzo, but Lee has masked many deficiencies. After all, it’s hard to exploit a slow-to-jell coverage team if you can’t return a punt: Only 13 of Lee’s 31 kicks have been returned this season. He has dropped 17 punts (55 percent) inside the 20-yard line and thwarted Patrick Peterson in a Week 8 win at Arizona with deft directional kicks that pinned the All-Pro returner along the sideline.

Most improved

Cornerback Chris Culliver: The No. 3 corner is showing strong signs of being a future No. 1. Soon. Despite playing 169 fewer snaps than starters Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers, Culliver leads the team with 10 passes defended (Brown and Rogers have 10 combined). Quarterbacks have completed 38.9 percent of their passes when throwing in Culliver’s direction and have a 28.7 rating, according to Pro Football Focus. His standout season began, fittingly, with a game-sealing pass breakup against Jordy Nelson in a Week 1 win at Green Bay.

Biggest surprise

Guard Alex Boone: Too inexperienced, too tall and … too good? Boone has made a seamless transition from tackle to guard, a position he hadn’t played until the 49ers asked him to move inside in the spring. At 6-foot-8, he’s bigger than a typical guard, but he has stayed low and stood tall as a result. With technique and tenacity, he has helped pave the way for the NFL’s top rushing attack and been a clear upgrade over Adam Snyder, his predecessor at the position.

The I’m-Not-Done-Yet Award

RB Frank Gore: After his so-so, injury-marred end to the 2011 season, the 49ers’ drafting of a running back for the second straight year in April and his 29th birthday in May, it appeared as if Gore might be slipping into the sunset of his career. Guess not. The eight-year veteran is averaging a career-best 5.5 yards a carry and is on pace for 1,312 yards, which would be his most since 2006. His second-half performance against Seattle, with bruised ribs, showed he’s still capable of carrying an offense, just a few months from his 30th birthday.

Best play

David Akers’ 63-yard field goal: Yes, a kicker can win this hardware when he joins three others in the NFL record book with a 63-yard boot (Akers is just the second kicker to do so outside Denver’s mile-high altitude). Akers’ kick doinked off the crossbar, inspired a celebratory mosh pit at midfield and gave the 49ers a 16-7 halftime lead in their 30-22 win at Green Bay. His post-kick, did-that-really-happen expression said it all: This type of play doesn’t happen every day.

Best play call

Colin Kaepernick’s quarterback draw: Akers’ record-tying kick was set up by Kaepernick’s dash three plays earlier. With 18 seconds left in the first half, the 49ers began their possession at their 38-yard line with one timeout. They inserted Kaepernick and the Packers readied for a long ball, but the second-year QB took the shotgun snap and sprinted 17 yards to set the stage for history.

Most intriguing second-half story line

About those new offensive players: At this point, it appears as if the top two draft picks, wide receiver A.J. Jenkins and running back LaMichael James, will have redshirt rookie seasons. But what about collecting-dust running back Brandon Jacobs (zero snaps) and the lightly used Randy Moss (13 catches)? Moss clearly has something left, but the 49ers have used him primarily as a decoy. Jacobs has been healthy for a month, but the short-yardage back is evidently merely insurance in the event that Gore or backup Kendall Hunter is injured.